By Lorraine J. Anderson

Lord, on this Sunday,
You are speaking to me.
Not with the vibrations of sound,
But in the voices of others,
In the still small voice of a bird.
In the sound of my mower,
In the silence of my frenzied brain,

Lord, on this Sunday,
I am hearing You.
I cannot see You.
My ears do not comprehend you.
But your breath caresses me,
Your wind cools me,
Your spirit comes into my soul.

Lord, on this Sunday,
I heard that You are the Foundation,
You are the reason for the feast,
You are the host of the feast to come,
You are the breath and the wind and the spirit,
You are all that and more.
Yet I do not fully comprehend.

Lord, on this Sunday,
I am the doubting Thomas.
I am the rich man who won’t let go.
I am the one who passes the Samaritan on the road,
I am the sinner who cannot believe.
I cannot touch your wounds with my hands.
I throw myself down with frustration.

Yet on this Sunday,
The foundation cannot be seen,
Yet it holds up a building.
The wind cannot be seen,
But we can feel the results of wind’s power.
I cannot yet see you,
But I feel in my heart you are there.

I say with the centurion,
I Believe, help me with my disbelief.
In Yeshua’s name I pray.
Amen.

By Lorraine J. Anderson

To the tune of “Barbara Allen”

At Passover,
Our Christ laid down,
In three days rose again,
The Good Shepherd,
Became the Lamb,
And led the way to heaven

At Passover,
God gave his Son,
The springtime flowers were blooming,
On that dread drear day,
He split the sky in two,
And opened the way to heaven.

His selfless act,
At passover,
When God’s sacrifice was done,
No more would we
Wander all alone,
In our quest for heaven,

When we forget
Christ’s sacrifice,
And fight with others again,
Remember the day,
When Christ became the Lamb,
And led the way to heaven.

Alone in my room,

But I am never alone!

God is always there.

A Facebook friend, April Emick Fiet, is writing a poem a day for November. I asked whether I could copy that idea, and she graciously allowed it. Hopefully I can at least do a Haiku a day, along with my other writing project… The following is my first attempt.

See previous post for words. Thank you, Tina Chen!

My experiment. I was having a bit of trouble with the program. I also don’t know much about music theory. I’m hoping it’s not too derivative of a Disney song. 😀

The song is supposed to go through the four verses, then end with “2.”

The weight of Yahweh presses on me.

The easy yoke presses on my shoulders.

I cry, “How long, Yah, how long!”

 

Yet the Lord has promised that He shall be with us,

Until the end of time, and beyond .

 

I feel like Yahweh is turning away

I am fraught with stress and anxiety

But I know He does not abandon His promises.

 

Yet the Lord has promised that He shall be with us,

Until the end of time, and beyond .

 

People are against people

The world is full of dark.

I see and despair.

 

Yet the Lord has promised that He shall be with us,

Until the end of time, and beyond .

 

May I always find the Light;

Grant that I may always learn to follow

Yahweh, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Amen

By Lorraine J. Anderson

There are truths in this life we will never know.

Every individual contains his/her own truth.

Some of those truths give others joy.

Some truths are repugnant to others.

I can never truly know your truth

You can never truly know mine.

We see each other reflected through a dark mirror.

Reflecting our truths on others without realizing —

That their truths may not be ours.

And when we say we understand,

We project our experiences on others.

Oh, Yahweh, help us to understand

That we may not understand at all,

But that we should love our neighbor nonetheless.

So be it.

By Lorraine J. Anderson

In the black night,
God is there.
In the bright day,
God is there.
When you cry,
God is crying.
When you laugh,
God is laughing
When you hurt others,
God is hurt.
When you help others,
God is smiling.
When you love others,
God loves you.
When you hate others,
God still loves you.
When you follow God,
God will give you strength,
When you run away,
God waits for you to return.
God gave us an ideal to follow,
May we all learn to follow His Son.

By Lorraine J Anderson

In the night,
Regrets abound,
God is near.

In the day,
My life is busy,
God is near.

In the light,
My eyes squint,
God in near.

In the dark,
I strain to sleep,
God is near.

In all things,
Look and see,
God is here.

By Lorraine J. Anderson

My God is not in the sky.
My God is all around me,
In everything I do.
In the ground I walk on.
In the bread I eat,
In the water I drink.
In the very air I breathe.
In the red rose I smell,
In the people I see.
In those that love you
In those that deny you,
In those that do not know you.
In those that commit evil in your Name.
In those that do good in your Name.
In the clouds above,
In the magma below,
In the sparrow that falls,
In the Eagle aloft.
In the stars above,
In the rocks below.
In all that breathes,
In all that moves,
In all things stationary.
In the very molecules of us all.
In Jesus, the Son,
In Judas, the betrayed,
In Peter, the rock.
In us all.

YHWH, the very breath of my soul,
Guide me this day as to what I should do,
Not my will, but thine be done.

Amen.

By Lorraine J. Anderson

Change,
All things change.
Changes can be in an instant,
Or could be slow in coming.
Canyons are formed by change,
Mountains rise by change,
A flower blooms by change.

To live is to change,
From childhood to old age.
To gain friends, to lose friends,
To marry, to have children, to have love,
To lose, and to gain again.

Change —
Life is change,
Life is scary,
Life is to share,
Life is joy,
Life is to shine,
Life is to hit gain our potential
Change is bad,
Change is good,
Yahweh changes us,
Yahweh changes our living water into wine.

Lord, come into my life,
Help me not to be afraid of change,
Guide my path so that I may change
To reflect your Glory.

Amen

By Lorraine J. Anderson

New Year,

New chances.

New attitude,

New times.

 

But resolutions break,

And time wanders on,

People leave and arrive,

What’s left is you.

 

And when you go,

What’s left behind?

Did you live for yourself, or —

Did you make a difference?

 

New year,

New day,

New chances,

New attitude.

 

Go,

Love your neighbor as yourself,

Go,

Be the difference.

 

 

By Lorraine J. Anderson

The sun sparks glisten behind yellow autumn trees,

Pouring through in the soul in light and shadow.

The sun gleams glow on winter snow,

Startling the eye in white crystal diamonds.

The sun reflects on the light green of early spring leaves,

Green haze finally glimmering on brown bark.

The sun bursts through dark summer storm clouds,

Promises of multi-colored light refractions.

 

The Son sparks brightly into my soul,

Banishing my shadow with light.

The Son gleams into my dark heart,

Startling me with his promise of comfort.

The Son glimmers into my soul towards grace,

Prodding me to reflect his bright heart.

The Son‘s love bursts through my doubt,

Promises of the life to come.

 

Glory to God in the highest,

And peace to his people on Earth.

By Lorraine J. Anderson

The prophets predicted Him,
Virgin Mary gave birth to Him,
Joseph and Mary raised Him.
Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Praise to the Messiah,
Praise to Yahweh’s son,
Glory to the Messiah,
Praise to Him to Come,

John paved the way for Him,
Yahweh’s spirit came down on Him.
Disciples were students for Him.
Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Praise to the Messiah,
Praise to Yahweh’s son,
Glory to the Messiah,
Praise to Him to Come.

The sick were drawn to Him,
The demons were repelled by Him.
The crowds kept following Him.
Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Praise to the Messiah,
Praise to Yahweh’s son,
Glory to the Messiah,
Praise to Him to Come.

Pilate washed his hands of Him,
Barabbas was freed because of Him,
Simon carried the cross for Him,
Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Praise to the Messiah,
Praise to Yahweh’s son,
Glory to the Messiah,
Praise to Him to Come.

Judas received silver for Him.
Simon Peter denied Him.
The disciples mourned Him.
Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Praise to the Messiah,
Praise to Yahweh’s son,
Glory to the Messiah,
Praise to Him to Come.

Death’s curtain ripped for Him.
Heaven opened up for Him.
Our sins he took upon Him.
Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Praise to the Messiah,
Praise to Yahweh’s son,
Glory to the Messiah,
Praise to Him to Come.

Amen.

(Inspired by Rev. Brenda Deily’s sermon 2/21/21)

By Lorraine J. Anderson

We live in a hard world.

Thanks be to God.

We cry every day.

Thanks be to God.

~Selah~

In the hard times,

Thanks be to God,

We look to the cross.

Thanks be to God.

~Selah~

Let us cry to God.

Thanks be to God.

God is always near.

Thanks be to God.

~Selah~

He may seem far.

Thanks be to God.

The evil surrounds us.

Thanks be to God.

~Selah~

God, have you left us?

Thanks be to God.

No, you are with us still.

Thanks be to God.

~Selah~

We see evil all around.

Thanks be to God

Yet you still love us.

Thanks be to God.

~Selah~

May grieving be short.

Thanks be to God.

May joy come soon.

Thanks be to God.

Amen

By Lorraine J. Anderson

We put on our helmets.

We put on our guards.

We put on our cleats.

We run for the zone.

We scramble around.

We pile up ourselves up.

We dive for the ball.

We keep others away.

We play for our team.

We fall down to the ground

Some of us pop up;

Some others stay down.

We get pushed off field.

We run the whole way.

We scheme and we plan.

Our plans go awry.

Some leave the field.

Some stay in the game.

Some sit on the bleachers.

Some play through the rain.

But what we forget,

The most important point of all —

We are all on the same team

We are all children of God.

And when we make the last touchdown,

Our time will be done.

We can rest in the Lord.

Our game will be won.

AMEN!

By Lorraine J. Anderson

Dear Lord,

As one day flows into the next,

We remark on the passage of time,

As if the division of the days and nights

Truly make a difference.

~~~Selah~~~

Yet we need the passage of time,

To let us know where we are.

And while today may be the same as yesterday,

Months and years bring changes.

~~~Selah~~~

A baby grows to a child, an adult grows old,

Yet it is only in contrast that we notice the change,

Like following a trickle to a stream to a river to the sea,

We wonder how the trickle grew so big.

~~~Selah~~~

Life is slow, yet life is fast,

We wait impatiently for the next change,

And the next year comes before we know it.

Yet tomorrow comes slowly.

~~~Selah~~~

You are the only true constant, oh Lord,

Give us the wisdom not to waste time,

The patience to wait on You,

And guidance to help and love our neighbors.

~~~Selah~~~

~~~~~~~~Amen~~~~~~~~

Dear Lord of life and love and peace,

This Christmas Eve is different from those most of us have known.  A contagious sickness prevents us from gathering together in person, yet we still gather together through the electronic means You have inspired and are still able to see and hear family and friends.

Thank You.

We have lost friends and loved ones to the virus and to the essential isolation and distancing from others to help curb the contagion.  We pray that You have taken in Your arms those who have lost their lives because of the virus, those who have lost the will to live because of the isolation, and those who have lost their lives because of overcrowded medical facilities.  Yet we thank you for those same facilities and the tired, weary caregivers.  Give those caregivers strength and peace and may they know that we appreciate them.

Thank you.

We have lost friends and colleagues due to political strife.  Yet the world has always had political strife and wars and disagreements.  Help us to not demonize those people who believe the opposite that we believe.  We are all imperfect reflections of Your creation, and we need to realize that.  We thank You for Your grace and love that forgives us all, no matter what political philosophy or politician we follow.

Thank you.

Most of all, we thank you for the Christmas season.  We acknowledge that our Christmas traditions are taken from those religions having nothing to with You, yet You know that we need these traditions to inspire us and turn us towards You.

Thank you.

We know that we are not promised sunshine and rainbows for the whole of our days, yet we know that sunshine and rainbows may often follow a storm.  We pray that the storms of 2020 will abate, and that 2021 will be brighter.  Yet we thank you for the lessons of 2020.

Thank you.

Mostly, we thank you for the gift of your Love and in this season, we thank you for the gift of Your Son.  We know that He probably was not born on December 25, but the important thing was that He was born and died to be the sacrificial lamb for us.

Thank you.

In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen

— Thoughts on the current world situation —

By Lorraine J. Anderson

When life is quiet and times are prosperous,

We get along,

When life is turbulent and times are dangerous,

We fight.

How sad.

Are we not all the same?

Are we not all human?

Why do we argue?

Why don’t we want the best for each other?

But the problem is — we do.

Most want the best for each other.

Most help each other —

—If we know each other personally.

But there are those who create discord.

They claim the other side is evil.

They claim the other side will destroy us.

They claim that the other side will kill us.

We listen to them.

Yet, when we meet the other side,

There’s a dissonance.

The other side,

    They are us.

       We are them.

Why are we fighting us?

How sad.